Rural-mail-receiving apparatus



g F. J. CLARK RURAL MAIL RECEIVING APPARATUS Filed Sep/t. 4, 19213 INvE/v ron. Hmz/fr J.v cL amr r 22a/Mn,

' needs of rural delivery and have led toY` this improved device forreceiving mail.

To the ends above enumerated thel inven-.

Patented ug. 23, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK J. CLARK, or HARMONY, MINNESOTA.

RURAL-MALARECIVING APPARATUS.

Application lecl September 4, 1923. Serial No. 660,676.

ages as well as the ordinary mailbox for. letters and papers and havingmounted beMV tween the two a Vremovable name plate.

lt is a further object in such apparatus to Ymake the height of therotatable receiving apparatus.adjustable.

` Over twenty years of service as a rural mail carrier have wellqualihed the applicant to thoroughly know the conditions andtion'consists of the novel devices and coinbination of deviceshereindescribed and set forth in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in the aecompanying drawings wherein likenotations refer to similar parts throughout the sev,- eral views and, inwhich- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the device mounted in the grouniil;y

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; and fFig. 3 is a vertical section, with some portions broken away, taken ronline 3-3 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows. y

rlhe applicants device is supported by Ameans of an upright postcomprising cylindrical teleseoping sections, the lower or stationarysection of which is designated by the numeral l and adapted'to besecured in the ground. This lower section l lmay be either of solid orhollowrfo'rmation. The upper section 5 is preferably in the form of anopen-ended sleeve telescoped over the stationary section 4t and havingits upper end threaded. A horizontal carrying head 6, preferably of castmetal construction, has its under surface recessed at a suitable pointand threaded to engage with the threaded end of the telescopingsleeve 5and thereby rigidly connecting these part-s. Although connected bythreaded engagementV these parts may be fastened together in any othersuitable lmanner is normallyadapted to be seatedin the recessed portionof the head 6 and `thus allow th-e head 6 together with the sleeve 5,secured thereto, to be free y-for horizontal'- rotation thereon. Thehead 6 is considerably eX- tended at one end to form a flanged rec-'bottom of said rack. per portion, preferably just above the suprjhestationary section ,4

tangular seat 7 in which a standard mail boi; 8 may be readily securedor in which a fwooden blockmay be fastened to 'accom- Vmodate a mail boxof different structure.

The other end of the head 6 comprises an elongated transverse securingbracket 9 herein shown of angle bar form to which a comparatively largeparcel rack 1() of any suit-V able structure is bolted or otherwisesecured. rlhe rack 10, as herein shown, is of slatted open box formationand has side-supporting braces 11 extending from the telescoping sleeve6 toV intermediate pointsV near the At its intermediate upporting post,the head 6 has ranother transverse securing bracket 12 of U-shaped crosssection to which an upstanding U-shaped member 13 is bolted o'rotherwise secured, as bestshown in Fig. 3. The verticall upper sides ofthe member 13 are flanged to form guides for a removable naine plate 14and a horizontal lower guide 15 is fastened to the two vertical guidesat the proper distance from vthe top of the same. The name plate 14 hasa projecting portion on its upper edge, preferably of Acircular form,upon which thevbox number may be printed and which may also be used as alifter for removing the plate. Upon the body of the name plateidentification matter including the name, rural route and address of theowner is adapted to "be printed in accordance with Governmentrequirement-s.A

As will be'later explained, lit is often desirable to vary the height ofthe receiving apparatus'from the ground. To do, this, the

applicant provides an adjustable stop shown in the form of a clampingcollar 16 which may be fastened at various suitable positions on thestationary section l of the post toform a seat for the lower end of thetelescoping` sleeve 5, ythus maintaining the carrying head 6 at adesired height from the ground.

The operation of the device is probably obvious from the foregoing butmay be briefly summarized as follows: l

kThe apparatus, when installed along the road, lwill normally have themail boX end of y the rotatable head outwardly so that, when the postmanmakes his delivery, the box may be readily identified-from theconspicuous elevated naine plate end, due to the projecting members ofthe rotatable head, the postman mayl drive up in convenientk positionfor delivery. The letters, cards, etc., may be then placed in the mailbox and the head then rotated and the packages disposed in the parceli'aclr 10, all Without the mail deliverer leaving his vehicle. Therotatable head will then be turned back to its normal i position Withthe mail box outwardly.

Hitherto, much difficulty in delivering parcel post packages has beenexperienced by rural carriers since there has been no ,means on theregulation mail boxes ltor receiving parcels. As a result, the mailmanhasoten been obliged to either get out of his-vehicle and set the,packages at the bottom of the post or else throw them there from thevehicle with the chance ot having the contents fractured. The applicantsrotatable apparatus mounted on a single post will obviously overcome vthis difiiculty.

Moreoveig the upstanding conspicuous name` able snow on the ground, thesurface oi? the road Will be much higher than usual and the ordinaryrural mail box will be at a very inconvenient heiglit for the mailYcarrier to reach. By providing` an adjustable means for maintaining therotatable receiving apparatus at various heights, the post may be keptat the proper height at all times.

A further disadvantage of the ordinary rigid boxes is that domesticanimals often rub against thebo-xes and damage them in so doing. It is aWell known Jfact that a horse or cow Will not rub against a movableobject so that applicants box will never be damaged in this manner.. y

From the above description, it is apparent that the applicant hasprovided an extremely simple and highly eiiicient device for receivingrural mail and one Which may be manufactured ata small cost. Governmentrequirements are met in applicants device and tus comprising anVoscillatory substantially horizontal head adapted to be mounted forswinging movement on a .vertical axis, said head having an elongatedangle yseat at one side or" its axis to which ,a parcel receptacle isadapted to be secured, and having an opi positely disposed substantiallyrectangular seat on the other side of itsvaxis adapted to support a mailbox and said head also having a transverse channeled portionintersecting the axis of said head to which an upstanding main platelio-lder is adapted tobe secured."

2. A mounting for mail receiving apparatus comprising a substantiallyhorizontal head, a depending pivot member secured to said head andadapted to be mounted 'for movement on a vertical axis, said head havinga transverse elongated angle bar seat disposed at one side of its axisto which a parcel receptacle is adapted to be Vattached and having anoppositely disposed substantially rectangular seat at the other sideoitl said axis being iiangedto accommodate and support a standard mailbox, and said head Y also having a transverse channeled portionintersecting said axis and disposed between said'seats to which anupstanding main plate Vholder is adapted to be secured.y

In testimony Whereotl I aliix my signature.

FRANK .17.'cLxRx

